Our Thyme & Space project is an opportunity to build friendships, new skills and confidence through gardening and sharing a vegetarian meal together.  These supportive and lightly facilitated sessions offer a place where we can set aside our daily challenges and enjoy a connection with nature through activities like sowing, digging, planting, weeding, harvesting, or just sitting and enjoying the wildlife.

"I was looking for a nature space and a space of acceptance when so much non-acceptance was going on inside of me."

"For me it was about coming back into my body and doing things physically with my hands. I never thought about getting my hands dirty, but now I just love it, cos nothing else really matters. This is what we are all part of."

Listen to a conversation with participants about how the sessions have made a difference to them:

Dee’s story - Growing Together co-host and PLOT 22 Coordinator

“The working environment here is nourishing”

I started volunteering initially in the garden and then I heard about the DIG group, now called Growing Together and it was working with nature and working with people living with dementia, without a huge focus on their condition. It was more about people enjoying nature and I thought it sounded fantastic.

I’m always learning something new….The working environment here is nourishing. [When] the opportunity to become a Co-ordinator for the PLOT came up and having read what they were after, I thought, “Yeah, I think I might have something to offer in that role.” I have a long history of co-ordinating projects. 

I now do basically a day a week, co-ordinating, which again is fascinating because I’m getting to know how the background stuff works for the PLOT. I feel I have something to offer with ideas around process…

What makes PLOT 22 special is the approach that has been taken in developing it as a space for the community… it’s really inclusive and really open-hearted, welcoming. Repeatedly, different people who I’ve welcomed to the PLOT, use the term, “magic.” They say there’s something a little bit magic about PLOT 22.

Listen to Dee here:

Melis’s story (volunteer)

“I belong here”

PLOT 22 was the first place where I felt I’m home again. I’m not a stranger here. I never felt like a stranger here. Never. It made me realise that there is another world here.

My name is Melis and I have been coming for about two years. We started with the family sessions with my daughter. She is a little bit impulsive and very excited but nature helps her to stay calm and balanced and focused. I can definitely observe that after the sessions, she sleeps very peacefully and calm. 

I started to attend the volunteering sessions on Tuesdays. I try not to miss any sessions. Gardening, cooking, helping with things like building the fences or cleaning the ponds. The best part is that when I am doing something good for me, actually I do something good for other people too. I feel useful. 

It was my first time I had ever been abroad and in the UK. The pandemic started almost a month later. It was very difficult. But we survived. I cried for months but that was our decision that we made for the sake of our daughter, so we had to endure, we had to survive, we had to struggle. I had never been out of my comfort zone in my life before here and I used to have my parents’ support, but here we were all alone. 

Listen to Melis here:

Charlotte’s story (Trustee)

“It felt like coming home”

Charlotte has been involved with the plot ever since she visited with her family in 2012. “We turned up and we didn’t know anything about it, we’d just heard that there was a place you could go and be and have pizzas….”

She wrote and recorded a poem for us last year for our 10 year anniversary, celebrating her plot moments. Charlotte is stepping down as a trustee now, and we want to thank her immensely for all the support she has given to PLOT 22 over the last 8 years. Thankyou, Charlotte!

Niki's story (Regular volunteer)

“It sometimes brings memories from when I was a child”

My name is Niki and I have been coming to the plot for about 10 years now. I first came when my son was four years old because Emma had come to visit a childcare centre – that’s how I found out about it. I was very, very impressed. I like it very much here. It’s the beauty of the place and of course the people – I enjoy the social interaction. I feel that we are somewhere very special. 

My favourite things about the plot are the changes every week and seeing the progress of each season... I’m more aware of the seasons and the produce of each season. For years, I didn’t have a clue about seasons, it was all one to me! It makes me feel very calm and joyful. It’s very special to use the hands and it sometimes brings memories from when I was a child. 

Last year I found some sunflowers as I was walking to the PLOT. Emma encouraged me to do the process and to plant them in a pot and it was great to see them grow! This year has been particularly productive for me.

I’m always uplifted, always. Even throughout the day or a few days after. Things will pop in my head and because we are welcome to have something from the plot – flowers or vegetables, it is a reminder in my house! 

Listen to Niki here:

Ronnie’s story - regular volunteer

“Being outdoors helps me with my anxiety”

“The plot helps me with my recovery. I suffer with anxiety and little bit of depression sometimes. When I come to PLOT 22 I feel a lot more happier in myself. I feel like I’m building my confidence back up by meeting new people.  

Every Tuesday, when I finish at the plot, I feel fantastic. I feel like everything’s been lifted off my shoulders. 

PLOT 22 feels like a community, like a family. It’s a really nice atmosphere. A friendly environment.

Now things have opened up a bit more we do cooking and that’s really good. We go round harvesting different products and we do our cooking and we sit round and have lunch together. We’ve got an open fire we use and we display our stuff on the table and we take it in turns by cooking and preparing the food.

It’s lovely, especially when you’re sitting round eating and chatting away. It does help out a lot with loneliness and cos you know everyone’s got different troubles and problems but we all sit round there. We’re all supporting each other, so that’s the main thing, so it’s good. I’ve met people here who live not far from me in the area so now I’ve made new friends. It’s lovely.“

Listen to Ronnie here:

Robin’s story - regular volunteer on Tuesdays

“It reassured me that I do want a career in horticulture and now I’m going to Plumpton college.”

“After last year where my father passed away I was looking for a change… I decided that I might try volunteering at some allotments to see how I felt about it ultimately. It reassured me that I do want a career in horticulture and now I’m going to Plumpton college.”

“Coming to PLOT 22 has definitely made me fitter and has also inspired me to be more active in my general life…previously I had to stay indoors a lot….It’s allowed me to feel like I was doing something useful and it gave me a confidence boost in both what I realise that I could do despite my lack of knowledge and gave me confidence in wanting to continue it further.”

Listen to Robin here:

M’s story (participant at SafeHaven Mother & Babies sessions)

“the impact of lockdown on my mental health was horrendous”

I live in a one plus one in a tower block … I also suffer from anxiety and PTSD…the impact of lockdown on my mental health was horrendous, so having here to come to was – was heaven basically – and such a relief. He [my son] loves it here. He loves picking the raspberries, he loves digging up the mud. The water play is one of his favourite things to do…because he’s engaging all of his senses”

Listen to M here:

Clare’s story - Project Lead from SafeHaven for Mother & Baby

“I’ve left every single session feeling lifted up. It’s like a piece of heaven”

“[Our group] started coming to PLOT 22 as we came out of the first lockdown. We’d been supporting a lot of our mums by just giving them weekly hampers but we hadn’t seen them face to face and so coming here was the first time that we’d actually seen a lot of them for quite a few months and actually we’d had quite a few referrals during lockdown so for some of them it was the first time we’d ever met them and their little ones. So it was an amazing place to come just to be outdoors and to chat in a really easy environment…..It’s been like a breath of fresh air really. I’ve also noticed that a lot of the mums are forming friendships… A lot of our mums are already very lonely, they’re parenting alone, they’ve gone through domestic violence, maybe abuse, haven’t got their own support structures around them, so having that support is really vital…. I’ve left every single session feeling lifted up. It’s like a piece of heaven coming here.”

Listen to Clare here:

Emma, PLOT 22 founder shares how the project adapted during the COVID pandemic

“I hear so regularly from volunteers, especially regular volunteers, what a lifeline this place has been for them”

“One of the things that people have voiced they are most grateful for is the opportunity to see people face to face and have the chance to chat in person. People have said it’s been a real lifeline to be able to do that on a regular basis. Particularly people who are living on their own.”

“When the pandemic initially hit we didn’t know how long the lockdown would last and decided we would increase our food production as much as we possibly could to supply the community fridge….From June we adapted and started running {project} groups more frequently…. Now in November we are running approximately 10 sessions a week.”

“The way [PLOT 22] has been able to adapt and to still serve the community and increase the way we serve the community has been a bit like changing up a gear…that in itself has felt like a validation of all the work that everybody has put into creating this place over the last 10 years”.

Listen to Emma here:

Leo’s story

“a feeling of being useful was a very strong feeling”

“…I’m slow at moving forwards, but eventually I got out of my funk and came. And I’ve been coming ever since really. First impressions of the place is how serene and lovely it was and how friendly everybody was and you know I could be myself and also the fact that my offer of help on anything was gratefully received. It felt good that I could be helpful to a bunch of people and that was another attraction – a feeling of being useful was a very strong feeling.”

Listen to Leo here:

Sarah’s story

“ just I guess feeling more alive!”

“…everyone has something to offer. As soon as I came through the gate it just felt safe I guess. It felt like a really welcoming place where you could just be yourself right from the beginning.

There’s something about learning how strong you are or how much you can do. And also how gentle you can be if you’re tending a tiny seedling or planting things. It’s just I guess feeling more alive!”

Listen to Sarah here:

Tanweer’s story

“I just forget about everything else for the time that I’m here”

When I come here I just forget about everything else for the time that I’m here. Because my mind is occupied by the different activities…. Just to have the opportunity to get your hands dirty is in some way you know helpful. To know it’s okay you know, and just to feel free.

Listen to Tanweer here:

Laetitia’s story

“At home but outside…it’s something like that”

Just being out for a few hours….I wanted both of us to have that…I’m not a nature person, I’m a city person. I wanted [my daughter] to see how things grow, cos I can’t really do it myself. I wanted her to be aware of the seasons.

It’s not my comfort zone to lead but I’m not alone and I wanted to give something back. The fact that I’m sticking with it I think that’s the change.

Listen to Laetitia here:

Stories gathered at Garden Sunday 2013

“Just breathe and make your space, connecting to the nature, fire and people and outside air.

Once a month for a few hours you feel more relaxed. You don’t get this effect in normal daily life. It makes me feel more….alive!

You don’t have to pretend, you just have to be you and me and it’s ok. And I think that’s really important here.” – Mami

Stories gathered at Garden Friday 2011

[Raindrops]

“It’s a wet day like you know, and kind of a sanctuary here like you know?

It’s like when you go into a church and you’re on your own.

Such an element of peace…it’s like you can unwind.

It’s great like, you know? It’s nice here.” – Oliver